1. Can you give us a brief on the evolution of the company?
K Hospitality was founded by JK Kapur, a refugee who migrated to India on top of a train from Lahore during the partition of India, to build his life from scratch. Starting from the now legendary Indian restaurant Copper Chimney that he launched, the business has grown from strength to strength to now serve over 35 million customers a year, with 500+ outlets across multiple cities and formats such as QSR, food courts, restaurants, cafes, airline lounges, banqueting, catering and corporate food services. K Hospitality has a presence across India, the Middle East, South East Asia, the UK and Africa.
2. What is the Investment K Hospitality as a group planning for the QSRs model?
We have outlined a 200 crore investment plan for the QSR business to build and grow Made-in-India QSR formats, and become a top 5 QSR player by 2030.
3.     Why did the group intend to extend its services to banqueting and outdoor catering services?
Banqueting and outdoor catering services flowed as a natural extension to our restaurant businesses. Initially the business started due to customer demand for Copper Chimney to cater for their weddings and events, and has now grown into a business doing 3000+ functions event pre-covid, with brands such as Blue Sea Catering, Pavitra Catering, Copper Chimney Catering, with venues being catered such as Blue Sea, JK Banquets, Palace Halls, Dome, and many more. The business also is one of the premier caterers for the IPL, ISL, Kabaddi League, and a host of other large sports and corporate events.
4. Since Copper Chimney has been around for over 4 decades, what are the F&B trends that the restaurant has implemented in the past 49 years?
Copper Chimney as a brand has remained a customer favourite since the past 49 years, primarily due to a focus on quality, consistency and a consumer first approach. The brand continuously adapts the menus based on consumer demands, including more delivery centric options, smaller portions to allow customers to order variety, street food introductions, and technology to allow customers to conveniently reserve a table, order a meal, or provide feedback through digital mediums.
5.     What was the basic ideology behind starting a multi-concept restaurant operation, food concessions, bars, and cafes?
As a group, K Hospitality touches our consumer’s lives across every food touchpoint whether it maybe while you dine out at a mall or a high street, get a convenient meal at a QSR, eat at your office food court, celebrate at a banquet or get catering in your house, or while you travel for work or pleasure. The extension of our business to new areas is in part of our strategy to be where our consumers are and create loved brands and options that cater to the evolving needs of Indian consumers.
6. How did the group manage its revenue during COVID times?
During COVID we did see a drop across all businesses. While we did take swift and innovative measures to grow our delivery business by over 300%, this would not compensate for the loss of dine-in consumers. However, the business has rebounded strongly, and we are seeing numbers higher than pre-covid levels, with a strong pipeline for growth over the coming years.
7. With the first launch of QSR model Joshh restaurant in Mumbai, are you planning to expand it in other cities as well?
Yes, the plan for Joshh would be to scale up across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, after spreading in the Mumbai market.
8. What is next for K Hospitality Corp?
While the last decade was focused on F&B for consumers on the go, we believe the next decade will be focused on QSR in cities and highways, and Joshh is an integral part of this strategy as we build the brand and grow across India to become a top 5 QSR player by 2030.
